UNLV, Public Education Foundation program links high school students with teaching mentors

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - The University of Nevada, Las Vegas, is hoping a new program will help the Clark County School District teacher shortage.

The university is partnering with the Public Education Foundation to guide Southern Nevada students toward a career in teaching. Those students will have access to licensed educators, who will mentor them as they pursue a degree.

The program targets high school students enrolled in pre-teaching classes as well as paraprofessionals, or student teachers working in classrooms.

“The mentorship program was born out of research for identifying barriers to licensure for paraprofessionals,” said Michelle Cruz-Crawford, Principal at C.C. Ronnow Elementary School. “What we identified is that many of the paraprofessionals each had a unique journey or a unique hurdle which required one-on-one mentoring, so the mentoring program was developed to help each individual paraprofessional identify their pathway to licensure "

Mentors will be required to have worked for three or more years in public school.

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